Interdisciplinary minor in bioinformatics: First results and outlook

Abstract

There is a clear demand and need for more and better training in Computer Science for students of different backgrounds and genders. Traditional academic pathways for Computer Science majors and minors may not always be well suited for attracting underrepresented students. With the aim of recruiting and training students from life sciences, over 60% of whom are female, we established an alternative, programming-intensive pathway that is integrated within an interdisciplinary Bioinformatics minor. In this paper, we summarize the development and implementation of this program in a large public university, which can serve as a framework for new interdisciplinary programs in predominantly undergraduate institutions.